COVID-19 CASES DOWN 30% NATIONALLY, BUT OFFICIALS WATCHFUL

Canada has seen nearly a 30 per cent drop in active COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks, but chief public health officer says strict measures should remain in place as more contagious variants of the virus threaten to derail this downward trend. In a daily update Thursday, dr. Theresa Tam, pictured, said there are 48,221 active COVID-19 cases in Canada, down from more than 68,400 cases two weeks ago. Tam said the daily federal tally has also been trending downwards, with an average of 4,061 new infections reported per day over the past week. She said this slowdown has led to a gradual decline in severe COVID-19 outcomes. Over the past seven days, an average of 3,711 patients were treated in hospitals each day, including 792 intensive care cases.